


A call in the night

by JoyBooth



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-01 22:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13304856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyBooth/pseuds/JoyBooth
Summary: Mike gets a call.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey,” he whispered, getting out of bed.  
“Who is it?” Rachel asked.  
“Shh, I’ll be right back,” Mike shut the bedroom door and stumbled toward the kitchen. “What’s up Baker?”  
“I… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…”  
“It’s fine. Are you ok?”  
“I … I don’t know,”  
“Did something happen?”  
“No...”  
“Is it Noah?”  
“No...”  
“I thought you two were in San-tropez?”  
“We are,”  
“But?”  
“I can’t … breath,” she answered with a hiccupping gasp.  
“Did he do something?” Mike demanded.  
“No!”  
“Hey, it’s fine. Just focus on breathing. In… and out… It’s going to be ok. We don’t have to talk about it. Just keep breathing.”  
“How… are… you?”  
“Gin, don’t try to talk right now, just focus,”  
“Distract… me,”  
“Oh, ok, me? I’m good?” he mumbled.  
“Sounds… like… it…”  
“Better than you right now,” he teased, falling into the familiar banter.  
She laughed, then coughed.  
“But really,” he continued. “I’m good. Things are… good. I’ve been going to work with Rach, learning the business. Doc says my knee should last another season, especially with Li-van playing half the time.”  
“How’s that going to go?”  
“If it means I get to keep playing, I’ll live with it. I don’t like it, but I’ll live with it.”  
“What else?”  
“Not much, workouts have been boring lately. I’m missing my buddy.”  
“She misses you too.”  
“Good to know. I saw the pictures in People. Your tan is coming in nicely.” He could tell her breathing was almost back to normal.  
“Thanks,” she mumbled.  
“Have you eaten your weight in pasta yet?”  
“Sadly, no. We spend most of our time on his yacht, or at his friend’s yacht parties. I’ve been seasick.”  
“That sucks.”  
“It really does.”  
“But you’re in paradise.”  
“Yeah, I guess,”  
“What’s wrong, Baker?”  
“Nothing, I just… I don’t know. I thought it would be different.”  
“You’re bored.”  
“What? No, I just get restless and I can’t go for a run or pitch or do any of the stuff I usually do.”  
“Like I said, you’re bored.”  
She groaned, “Ok, I’m bored. What’s wrong with me?”  
“Nothing!” he answered a little too quickly. “I mean nothing. I knew you were bored because that’s how I feel. I mean, it’s how I felt. Rachel insisted we go on a cruise for our honeymoon. The whole time I just kept feeling restless. You just need some dry land and batting cages.”  
“You think?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I guess I’ll talk to Noah. Maybe we can stay on the mainland for a while.”  
“Good, how’s everything else going?”  
“Good…”  
“Sounds like it,” he teased.  
“All this free time is just so different from what I’m used to. The people around here, all they talk about it clothes and shoes and cars and stuff. When Noah’s is talking business, it’s so technical I can’t even follow most of it. I just don’t fit in here.”  
“You never fit anywhere at first.”  
“Thanks, ya jerk.”  
“Not you, you. I mean everywhere is different. Maybe you just need to give it a chance. Maybe you’ll get comfortable. Maybe you just need time.”  
“It’s only a month until Spring training, and what if I don’t want to get comfortable here. I like my life in San Diego. I love Petco and I’ve only ever really felt at home on a diamond, on the mound.”  
“Then have fun while you can, and know that this is all just temporary. You’ll be back home soon, looking at this handsome mug and making grown men cry with that screwball of yours.”  
“They don’t cry,”  
“You didn’t see Trout after you stuck him out. You single handedly ruined his average.”  
“You called the right pitches.”  
“But you followed my calls, which is pretty rare. Ya think maybe that might become a thing this year?”  
“Following your calls?”  
“yeah,”  
“Not likely,”  
“I didn’t think so, but I thought I would ask. As long as you wave off Duarte more than me, I’ll deal.”  
“Fair enough,” Ginny laughed. “It’s not like he knows what he’s doing anyway.”  
“Hey, he’s getting better.”  
“Whose side are you on?”  
“Yours, always. Call me when you’re back in town, or just if you need to talk again.”  
“Thanks, I’m sorry I woke you. I hope I didn’t get you in trouble with Rachel or anything.”  
“Don’t worry about it. Call anytime.”  
“Night, Lawson.”  
“Night, Baker.”


	2. texts with friends

When he didn’t hear from her the next day, he wasn’t worried. They hadn’t talked much since she left with Noah. She was probably just busy. He was busy too. He had meetings with his agent, some business partners and investment opportunities, not to mention his workout schedule. It wasn’t until a week later that he finally caved in the form of a text.

Lawson: Hey, just wanted to make sure you were feeling better

There was no immediate response, but he didn’t really expect one, except that he kind of hoped… 

Baker: It’s 1 in the morning 

Shit, he had forgotten about the time difference. 

Lawson: Sorry, go back to sleep, we can talk whenever. 

Baker: thanks for checking in though

Lawson: Always

Baker: Noah promised we’d go to port this weekend, we’ve just been sailing for a while

Mike reread the text and then scrubbed his hands over his eyes and read it again. 

Lawson: Are you feeling better?

Baker: Not better, but not worse

What an asshole? He thought to himself. If he had been with her, he would have had her to a doctor within the hour. Maybe she didn’t tell Noah. She did have trouble admitting when she needed help.

Lawson: Did you tell him that you were sick?

Baker: It’s just seasickness  
Baker: it really comes and goes  
Baker: no big deal 

Lawson: tell him you need to see a doctor, please, 

Baker: (…)

Lawson: I know you think its no big deal, but just do it for me. Please.   
Lawson: You know how I worry

Baker: (…)  
Baker: Yeah, ok, just so you don’t worry. I’ll tell him in the morning. 

Lawson: and let me know how it goes?

Baker: Yes, mom, I will let you know when the doc gives the all clear.

Lawson: Thanks, now get some sleep. 

Baker: but I’m awake now. 

Lawson: go to sleep

Baker: what’s going on with you?   
Baker: I saw you guest hosted with Rachel  
Baker: you did good

Lawson: Sleep, baker!  
Lawson: and feel better

Baker: Fine, talk soon

Lawson: We better. I’d hate to have to fly over there, well I wouldn’t, because it is amazing, but the flight would be hell on my back, so just let me know.

Baker: I will, enjoy your work out

Lawson: How did you know?

Baker: Where else would you be thinking of me?

He didn’t answer. The truth was he had been thinking of her all the time, but admitting that would cause problems he wasn’t ready to face just yet. Instead, he got back to his work out.


	3. See the Doctor

Her fingers hovered over the letters, but wouldn’t, couldn’t, actually make the words she hadn’t even been able to say. Pregnant. The doctor, who luckily spoke English, said she was 8 weeks pregnant. When she insisted it wasn’t possible, the doctor had pulled out a little machine and pressed it to her abdomen. The room was filled with a sound almost like hoofbeats, but she knew it wasn’t. She also knew what it was, a heart beat, and not her own.

“Isn’t that too fast?” she had asked, but the doctor promised it was well within normal for a fetus. A fetus, that’s what he had called it. It wasn’t a baby, it was a fetus, and yet she could barely think the word let alone say it. 

How could she have let this happen? She had always been so careful. She took the pill religiously, and insisted on condoms as well. This wasn’t possible, except that it was. She was alone, in a foreign country, pregnant.

She needed help. She needed someone to hold her hand. 

“Can I call someone for you?” the doctor had asked.

Immediately, Mike’s face flashed before her eyes. She wished he was here. He would tell her everything was going to be fine. She could almost hear his sleep rough voice reminding her to breath. “I’m fine,” she mumbled. 

The doctor tried to give her some pamphlets, but they were in French. She promised to check in with her regular doctor and was sent on her way. When she got outside the car that had brought her was still waiting. 

“Miss Baker?” the driver called, trying to get her attention. “Mr. Casey called to say his meeting is running late. He suggested you get some lunch. Maybe do a little shopping.”

Ginny just starred at the man. Oh sure, just do a little shopping while her entire life was crumbling around her. Great idea.

“Are you from around here?” she asked.

“Yes,”

“Good, do you guys have a baseball diamond somewhere in town?”

“A baseball diamond?” 

“Never mind, just a park?”

“Sure, we have many beautiful parks right on the beach.”

“No, no beach. I need dirt, and trees and I don’t know, but I need to not feel like I’m on the water and everything is moving.” 

The driver looked at her oddly. “The shops in town are very nice, and Mr. Casey Left his black card for you. He said buy whatever you like.”

Ginny groaned. “Please, just a park with no water, not even a lake.”

“Very well.”

She had been sitting on a park bench near the playground for nearly an hour trying to figure out what to type, what to say and how to feel, but she still couldn’t figure it out. Then her phone rang. She looked down to find the exact face she wanted to see.

“I waited all day, but it’s midnight and you promised,” he said as soon as she answered the call.

“I’m sorry,” she said rather flatly. 

“Are you ok? You don’t sound ok? Do I need to come over there? Is it Cancer? Oh, god, it’s cancer isn’t it?” He was spinning out faster than she could process. 

“Lawson,”

“Ginny?”

“Please calm down, I do not have cancer.”

“oh, sorry, I just… my mom called me once, and I… you know what, it doesn’t matter. What did the doc say?”

Ginny sucked in a deep breath. 

“Ginny?”

“I’m fine,” she sighed. 

“It was just seasickness? I looked it up on the web, and they suggest ginger, peppermint and acupressure bracelets.”

“Good to know.”

“I hope it helps.” He voice sounded so concerned and earnest. 

“Can I tell you something?” she asked nervously.

“Of course,” 

She didn’t actually say it though, a minute went by and somewhere in the back of her mind she thought of the phone bill she was racking up listening to his steady breathing. 

“Ginny? Are you ok?”

“I am. I’m… I mean I am… pregnant.”

“oh.”

“Oh?” she asked. She had finally said it and all he could say was oh.

“But you are ok? You’re healthy and it’s healthy.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. The doctor said it is good, growing right or whatever. The heartbeat is within normal range.”

“That’s good. What did Noah say?” 

“I haven’t told him, yet,” she said, suddenly realizing that Noah hadn’t even come to mind. She was panicking about this baby, and her job, but she hadn’t given Noah much thought at all. 

“Well, I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks,” she didn’t know what else to say. Then she heard a noise in the background. She was sure it was Rachel, though she couldn’t tell what was said. 

“I said I would be there in a minute,” Mike mumbled, the sound slightly muffled as if he had covered the phone. 

That was when she remembered that while she should be thinking about Noah, Mike should be focused on Rachel. Ginny knew how much Mike loved his wife, and she didn’t want to get in the way of that. 

“Hey, I gotta go, Lawson.”

“What? Are you sure? We can talk, if you need to.”

“I’m good. I promise. Actually, Noah’s calling now, so.” 

“Sorry, yeah, go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She hung up without another word, lying the first time had been hard enough.


	4. An unexpected development

January 30  
Lawson: just checking in. 

February 3  
Lawson: Are you back yet? I’m driving to Peoria. Heading out the 10th if you want a ride. 

February 7  
Lawson: Hope everything is good. 

February 14  
Lawson: Al just announced that you won’t be back this year. I’m still here for you, no matter what.   
… five minutes later…  
Lawson: I’m going to stop texting so it doesn’t look like I am some stalker, but if you need anything, even just a quiet place to be alone, you know the code for the house, help yourself. 

He didn’t honestly expect to hear from her. He hoped, but after weeks of radio silence, he didn’t expect it. Honestly, he had completely forgotten about the offer, until he unlocked the front door a month later and heard the tv on in the living room. 

“Hey,” he called as he came around the corner. Ginny was sprawled out on the couch like she owned the place. 

“Hey,” she answered, as if her presence was the most normal thing in the world. “How was training?”

He tossed his bag toward the stairs, and sat down in his favorite chair. “It was good. Teams shaping up nicely. Blip and I made this awesome double play against the Mariners. Gordon was so pissed.”

“I saw that. Nice work.”

“You were there?”

“No, I was here, but I think you have every sports package known to man, and the games that weren’t on tv were streaming online.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“You know being there is different, and anyway, you did more than just play baseball.”

“Not really, I’m not as young as I used to be. Spring training is hard on old bones.”

“Hence me asking how it went. I could tell you were hurting after that slider at first. Reynolds is such an asshole sometimes.”

“He is an asshole all the time, sometimes he just hides it better.”

“Fair enough.”

“So, we gonna talk about this?” he asked carefully.

Ginny chewed her lip for a moment. “I’ve been crashing in the guest room. Will Rachel been down more? I mean I get it if you two don’t want me hanging around. I was really just… you said I could crash, and… Thing is I thought it would be good to have someone here watching the house. You live in a fish bowl and everyone knows you are gone so…”

“Rachel isn’t coming down. She likes to stay in LA. You can stay as long as you want.”

“But really, she probably won’t like it. I guess I should have cleared out, or you know told you I was crashing. Things were just really hectic, and it’s so much quieter here.”

“Ginny, it’s fine. Like you said, it would be nice to have someone watching the house, and the schedule has a lot of away games in the next few months.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, now what kind of pizza is that? I’ve been driving for six hours and I am starving.”

“About that,” she grimaced, turning the box around to reveal a pizza covered in fried green tomatoes and jalapeños.

“You know what? I changed my mind, I think you should go,” he teased.

“Just try it ya big baby.”

Mike took a bite. It wasn’t bad. He wouldn’t say it was good, but it was better than that pickled herring Rachel was always trying to get him to eat. 

“So?”

“I don’t hate it as much as you hate cilantro.”

“You don’t hate anything as much as I hate cilantro.”

“True.” He agreed taking another bite. 

“Hey, Lawson?”

“Yeah?”

“There may or may not be a pepperoni and mushroom in the kitchen.”

“Are you serious? Why didn’t you say so?”

“I just like messing with you, I guess.”

Mike rolled his eyes before making his way to the kitchen, when he came back with his plate a thought struck him. “How did you know I’d be here?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t, but I just seemed like you might, and I wanted to make sure, just in case.”

He grinned and dug into his dinner. They had been watching tv in silence for about an hour when she shifted to stretch and stand. He looked her over, only then noticing her slightly rounded stomach. She   
looked almost the same in leggings and a loose t shirt. 

“You headed to bed?” he asked.

“Yeah, this thing is really taking it out of me,” she sighed stifling a yawn. 

“Alright, well see you in the morning.”

“Night, Lawson.”

“Night, Baker.” He watched her climb the stairs. This was a very unexpected development. He hoped she would open up more about how she ended up at his place, but he wasn’t going to push it. Being   
able to have someone to talk to at night was enough, for now.


	5. Breakfast

He was making breakfast the next morning, when she came down the stairs eyes barely open.

“Coffee?” he offered.

“Can’t,” she mumbled, sitting on a stool and laying her head on the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.

“Orange juice?”

“It gives me heartburn.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Not your fault.” She stood and slipped past him to open the fridge and pull out a gallon of milk. He passed her a glass and she returned to her spot at the island.

“Can I make you something?”

“What are you having?”

“Biscuits and gravy.”

“Really?”

“I just spent a month in training. This is my court mandated cheat day.”

“Well, I was going to have oatmeal, but I never turn down biscuits and gravy.”

“And you’ve never had my homemade biscuits. Let me tell you Baker, they are legendary.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know I am awesome at everything I do.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Sure, we will go with that for now.”

“Any big plans for today?” he asked fishing for any crumb of information she might give up.

“Not really, I’ve been taking a morning jog, then I usually come back for a swim and shower.”

“Is that safe?”

“Yeah, my doctor says light exercise it good. The pool has been my best friend. Thank god that thing is heated.”

“Here at the Lawson bed and breakfast, we aim to please.”

“And yet, I smell biscuits burning…”

“What, oh sh… dang it Baker, this has never happened before. I blame you for distracting me.”

“They aren’t too bad,” she insisted, snatching one off the pan.

“Careful, that just came out of the oven.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m the one who told you to take them out.”

As they ate she asked him more about different games he had played while he was away. They talked about what the team was up to. Mike told her stories from the locker room. They were loading the plates into the dishwasher when he asked if she wanted company on her jog.

“Sure, I guess.”

“If you’d prefer to be alone that’s fine. You can tell me to buzz off anytime.”

“I don’t mind the company, but don’t feel like you have to. I know I kind of surprised you being here. You should feel free to tell me to move along anytime.”

“Good to know. Can I ask you one thing?”

“I reserve the right not to answer.”

“Of course, is it over with Noah, or…”

“It’s over. Turns out he is as committed to career as I am, or I guess, I was, because I don’t have one anymore.”

“You can come back.”

“I don’t think so,” she said sadly.

“You don’t want to, or you don’t think it’s possible?”

“Come on, Lawson. I got up by the skin of my teeth after working on one goal for 20 years.”

“Yeah, and then you got here and killed it. You almost pitched a no hitter.”

“Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.”

“Ginny, I know baseball players. If you want to come back, you can, and I will do everything I can to help you get there.”

“I’m going to keep it,” she said as if that changed things.

“Women work and have babies.”

“I can’t. I always have to choose.”

“Says who?” he asked, clearly a little upset for the first time.

“Mike, be reasonable.”

“Ginny, we’ll hire a nanny. I have a year left. By the time you’re ready to go back, I’ll be done. I can watch the little guy. I can follow the team and watch him while you play and…”

“What about broadcasting? Phase 2?”

“Turns out, I have enough money to be a man of leisure.”

“What?”

“Also, turns out being a talking head sucks.”

“What?”

“I tried it. I hated it. I’m working with my accountant on some investment opportunities, but with the dealerships, I don’t have to work.” 

“You are just going to retire and take care of my baby?”

“Sure.” He answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“What?”

“Are not understanding, or just…?”

“Why would you do that?”

“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to, but I know how much you love playing. I love playing. I had my chance and I want you to have yours. Also, I like kids and I like you, so I would probably like your kid. If you’re staying here it just makes sense.”

“You’re serious?”

“If you want, or we can figure something else out.”

“Wait a minute, what about Rachel?”

“You know when I said she preferred to stay in LA?”

“Yeah?”

“I meant she is staying in LA because we are done.”

“What? You said you only have one season left? You love her. She’s your wife.”

“Ex-wife. We signed the papers two weeks ago.”

“What happened? Everything was going so well.”

“It wasn’t. We were both just trying to make it work because it was comfortable.”

“That’s a good thing. You should be comfortable.”

“No, it’s hard to explain. With Rachel, on the break, we were just two cogs working together, but it wasn’t any fun. We have these parallel lives and you would think we have all these things to do together, but really we barely talked, and I didn’t care that we didn’t talk. You should want to talk to the person you’re with.”

“I get that,” she said, surprising them both.

“Good, so you ready to eat my dust?”

“Excuse me? I could out run you 9 months pregnant in heels.”

"I bet you could," he said without a hint of sarcasm.


	6. Chapter 6

Mike walked into the house and was met by the sound of frantic giggles. He followed the sound to the living room were Ginny was tickling Marcus and Gabe. 

“Hey, what’s going on here?” he growled. 

They sprang away from each other and Ginny collapsed onto the couch, breathing heavily. 

“Uncle Mike!” the boys cheered, each tackling on of his legs. 

“Boys!” he cheered with equal excitement. 

“Aunt Gin says we’re having a sleep over, and we can swim,” Marcus started, Gabe cut in. “And we can play WII and have a movie night and make a front in the living room.”

“Oh really?” 

“Yeah, and that isn’t even the best part,” Gabe continued, this time interrupted by his brother. “We went to the store and got ice cream and hot fudge and whip cream and even sprinkles and cherries.”

Mike looked over at Ginny, raising an eyebrow. 

“Ev and Blip are having date night, and Ev’s mom is out of town visiting her sister.”

“Did Aunt Ginny say what we are having for dinner?” he asked, redirecting his attention to the boys still clutching his legs. 

“Pizza!” they cheered. Mike rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, go get your swim suits on while I get changed.”

The boys ran down the hall to the guest room where their bags were. Ginny followed Mike up the stairs. 

“Sorry to spring this on you. The sitter canceled at the last minute and they really needed some time to talk.”

“Trust me, I know. I have had Blip as my workout buddy all week and I know more about their relationship than I ever wanted to.”

“Is it ok though? I tried to call, but I think you were on the field.”

“I was, but it’s fine. You can have anyone over, Baker. You live here, you don’t have to check with me. Though a heads up would have been nice.”

“You didn’t call back,” she moaned sitting on the edge of his bed. He tossed his bag in the corner and walked into the closet to change. 

“I know. My agent called and I was on the phone with him until I walked in.”

“What did he want?”

“Just going over some endorsement offers.”

“Did AARP finally call?” 

“Why are you so mean?” he asked, coming out of the closet in just his trunks. Ginny’s eyes locked on his abs. After a moment she shook her head.

“If I was nice you would think something was wrong.”

“True, now are you going to get changed?” 

“I guess,” she groaned, pulling herself to her feet. “You know, Ev thinks what we’re doing is weird…”

“Watching her kids?”

“No, this, The living together. You helping me with the baby.”

“What do you think?”

“I think, I’m happy and comfortable and if it works for you and it works for me, then we should just keep doing this.”

“Good, me too!”

“Ok, good. Now hurry up the boys are supposed to wait for an adult before they go in the pool, but I don’t like to leave them unattended around the water.”

“Probably not a good idea.” He agreed, pressing a kiss to her cheek before heading toward the pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, I know, but I was having a hard time figuring out what was next, and I love the idea of them babysitting.


	7. Sing

Time passed quickly, once they got into a routine. Mike was coming and going with the team. Ginny was going a little stir crazy. She had binge watched everything from 13 seasons of Grey’s to all 118 episodes of Living Single to the Great British bake off. 

The news of her absence from baseball had finally died down. From time to time people made the odd comment, but for the most part she was forgotten. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t so easy to forget, but then again, she was thankful for the little bit of anonymity she was now afforded. When she was out with Blip or Mike she was recognized more, but over all she could go to the grocery store, or walk along the boardwalk without anyone really noticing her.

Still the days were long. She spent a lot of time with Evelyn. When the boys needed a volunteer in their class she would come help out with whatever they needed. Kids didn’t really care who she was, or why she had stopped playing baseball. They were just happy to have someone to listen to them and help with their work.

The time spent at the school reminded her of how much she liked school. Then one night Mike came home to find her grumbling at her laptop.

“Don’t let the trolls get you down, Baker,” he teased as he sat down beside her.

“It’s not that, I was thinking about taking some online course, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“What kind of courses?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. I was at the school again today and on of the kids asked what my best subject had been, which got me thinking about school, and the scholarship that I didn’t take, and what I am going to do if I can’t go back to baseball…”

“You’ll get back.”

“Maybe. I haven’t ruled it out, but what if I don’t want to? What if I don’t want to miss everything when this little person has school plays or soccer games or whatever? Or what if I play for however long and then what? What’s my phase 2? Because right now I am a high school graduate with no work history other than baseball and no marketable skills.”

“You could be a model? Your issue of ESPN sold record numbers.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “it could have been your cute little butt everyone was dying to see…”

He laughed. “True, very true, in fact maybe I should be a model. We know I have the face for it.”

“Only if you lose the animal that is currently hiding that handsome face.”

“So, you agree I’m handsome.”

“I agree you are impossible.”

“Whatever you say. Modeling is a no, for you. So, is chef, and singer, what about drawing? Are you a good artist? Because you could make a killing on the boardwalk.”

“I could be a singer. I have a good voice,” she grumbled indignantly.

“Who told you that? Was the person deaf? Or a man?”

“I am a good singer. I was in choir. I even got a solo in the big spring concert my freshman year, but then my dad said the practice schedule was getting in the way of my workout schedule. So, I had to quit.”

“Ginny, I love you. You know I do, but I’ve heard you hum. There is no way on god’s green earth that you are a good singer.”

She tilted her head and stared at him, replaying his words to make sure she wasn’t losing it. “What did you say?”

“I said you can’t sing.” He repeated, a little confused. 

“Before that,” she prompted.

“I said,” he replayed the conversation in his head, then choked a little. He shook his head and cleared his throat. “I said, I love you,” he repeated, watching her carefully for a reaction.

“Oh, ok, that’s… ok, so…”

“It’s ok, gin. It doesn’t mean anything has to change or anything. I won’t say it again if it bothers you.”

She grabbed his hand, pulling it into her lap. “No, I don’t mind. I mean, I love you too. I just, it’s weird this whole thing, with us and the way we’re living. I don’t want to mess this up, because I really like what we have. I like living here. I like spending time with you, but I can’t mess this up.”

“You won’t, I promise. Like I said, nothing has to change. I didn’t even really mean to say it.”

“Ok, so nothing changes, for now, but you can say it, if you want.”

“Ok, good to know.” He smiled

“And also, I am a good singer.” 

“I still not buying that.”

She pulled her hand out of his, stood and started to sing in a rasping, husky alto that sounded familiar.

“What the hell, Baker? How can you sing like an angel, but hum like a tone-deaf truck driver?”

“I have no idea,” she shrugged. “But I told you I could sing. Now, what should we have from dinner?”

“Can you cook too?”

“Hell no, I was thinking take out. I’m in the mood for Chinese.”

“Sounds great!”


	8. A swim

“Noah called today,” Ginny mentioned, as if it was the most common occurrence in the world. Mike, who had been sitting on the couch, got up and walked into the kitchen.

“Noah?”

“Yeah, Noah Casey, the tech guy who knocked me up,” her head was in the freezer because being 8 months pregnant in July in California was killing her, or at least that’s what she claimed.

“I think this is a face to face talk,” he sighed leaning against the counter beside the refrigerator. Ginny grabbed a pint of cherry Garcia and tried to hop onto the counter across from him. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite as spry these days, so he had to give her a boost. His hands on her hips were defeating all the time she had spent in front of the freezer.

“Can we talk about the air conditioning first. Me and this ice cream are melting.”

“How did you live and play in Texas?”

“Well, for starters, I wasn’t growing a person at the time, and Texas, or at least where I was mostly, was a dry heat.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “It is set at 70 that is cool enough. If you hot talk a swim, but first, what did Noah want?”

“He wanted to check in with me,” she shrugged, opening the ice cream. He got her a spoon.

“Have you talked to him a lot? I thought he was out of the picture?”

“I thought so to. I haven’t talked to him at all since we got back to San Diego. He said he wasn’t ready to be a dad, and I said fine. That was the end of it.”

“Until today, when he called to check in?” Mike asked confused by the turn of events and Ginny’s lack of interest in the topic.

“Yeah, I guess he has given it some thought, and…”

A million thoughts raced through Mike’s head. He was losing her. He was losing them both before he even really had them. How could this happen?

“Lawson,” Ginny snapped her fingers in front of his face. She looked concerned. “Are you ok?”

How could she even ask that? Of course, he wasn’t ok? He thought… he thought he was finally getting a family, and then some nerd comes and steals it. Well, really he had tried to steal it, but now it looked like he was getting left again.

Ginny had put down the ice cream and slipped off the counter. “Mike, what is going on?”

“How could you just leave me?” he whispered miserably.

“What are you talking about? I’m literally right here,” she laughed taking both his hands and putting them back on her hips before sliding her hands up his perfectly muscled arms to his neck. 

He tried to pull away, but she still had the grip of an eagle’s talon. “He changed his mind. That’s what you said. So, now you are going to leave me.”

“No,” she insisted. “You don’t understand, and even if he did want to try again. I love you. I not leaving unless you make me.”

“What?” he really didn’t understand.

“He would like to be a part of the baby’s life, as a fun uncle or godfather, or I don’t know, babysitter? But I told him you would be its father, and he was fine with that. He said he would sign away the rights before it is even born. He just wanted to set up a trust fund of it and maybe take it to the zoo when it’s older.”

“He said, I’m its father?”

“Yes! You are his father?”

“His?” Mike asked, startled by the pronoun.

“Shit!” Ginny pulled away and wrinkled her nose.

“You peeked!” he accused.

Ginny groaned. “I was bored, and I was looking at baby names, and there were too many, and the envelope was right there.”

“I can’t believe you peeked. I guess that means you will be on dish duty for the rest of the week.”

“But…”

“Bets a bet, sweetheart.”

“You are not my favorite person today,” she grumbled, putting the half-melted ice cream away.

“Maybe not, but do you know who I am?”

“Who?”

“The father of your son!” he cheered excitedly. Ginny laughed. His excitement was infectious. “So, after you peeked, did you decide on any finalist for the name?”

“I like Wyatt or Winston or Zachariah.”

“Those are old man names.”

“You would know,” she teased as she headed for the pool.

“I’m serious though,” he followed her. “What about William or Matthew or James.”

“Half those names are literally in the bible. If you want young it would be Paxon, or Jaysen, or Aiden.”

Mike made a face. “Ok, maybe not that young, I don’t want to misspell my own kid’s name.”

“That’s fair. I can’t tell you how many times the baristas have messed up my name.”

“The other day I got Myk.”

“You didn’t!” she was floating in the pool, her eyes sparkling with laughter.

“I did, but it was better than the time I got beard guy.”

She snorted. “Where was that? We need to go back! I need a picture of you with a coffee cup that says that beard guy.”

“I’ll take you some time. I promise, but back to business. What about something meaningful like a favorite player, other than me of course.”

“You don’t want a little Mike?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“I would love nothing more than a little Mike running around here, but I have been in houses with a father and son with the same name, and it gets confusing, or you end up calling them a nickname, at which point you should have just named the kid what you intended to call him.”

“I see, so you don’t like nicknames? That’s why you have about 135 different things you call me?”

“I like nicknames, you know I do, Rookie, but if you have no intention of ever calling a person by their name, why give it to them.”

“Fair enough. Maybe Michael for the middle name.”

Mike grinned. “That would be…” he swallowed hard. It was getting real now. “I would love that.”

“What about Easton?”

“I like it. It has a new feel, but also classic, and he would have a readymade sponsor.”

“Easton Michael Baker Lawson.”

“I love it!”

“I can’t believe we just figured that out this quickly.”

“You could still change your mind.”

“I know, but I just mean, we are a good team.”

“Did you forget that?”

“No, it just reminds me that this is the right thing. You and me.”

“Well, if you ever need reminding, we can always invite Blip and Ev over for game night again.”

“Oh my god, no, I am still getting grilled about how bad we beat them.”


	9. Dinner

Noah had come over to sign the paperwork they needed for Mike to legally be on the birth certificate. They also needed to figure out exactly how much Noah wanted to be around, and what that would look like. Things went pretty smoothly. In fact, the men had fallen into talking about 4k tvs and Ginny had completely zoned out for a while. They were just finishing dinner when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Ginny said, pushing back her chair. She had to pee again anyway. She opened the door to find Rachel standing there, typing something on her phone. "Rachel?"

Rachel's head popped up in surprise. "Ginny Baker?" then her eyes shot down to Ginny's stomach, and she did a double take. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." Ginny answered calmly. "Did Mike know you were stopping by?"

"You? Live here?" Rachel repeated. Only now then did Ginny realize that the other woman was slurring slightly. She looked out into the driveway.

"How did you get here, Rachel?"

"I took an Uber. How did you get here?"

"I live here, remember."

"Who is it?" Mike called from inside the house.

"It's Me," Rachel called back, stepping around Ginny and into the house. Ginny went to the bathroom, hoping Mike would have it figured out before she got back. Instead, she saw Mike and Rachel whispering to each other in the kitchen.

"Is every night like this?" Noah asked.

"No," Ginny sighed. "Most night around here are pretty quiet, unless we are playing scrabble, or Pictionary, or trivial pursuit. I guess really any game, but Mike and I are really competitive."

"That makes sense. Are you happy?"

"Yeah, I am." She couldn't help but smile.

"Good, honestly I was surprised it didn't happen sooner. I mean the way you always talked about Mike, I thought you might be in love with him."

"What? No, we are not, I mean, we are but it's not what you think. I mean this is all new. He was there for me and I never planned this or anything."

"It's ok. I know. I just meant that I am happy for you. I think this will be good. It seems like he is really committed to being there for you and the baby."

"He is."

Just then something in the kitchen shattered. Ginny ran in and saw piece of the broken glass scattered between Mike and Rachel.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

"Everything's fine, will you go get my shoes so I can clean this up?"

Ginny nodded. A minute later she returned to the froze kitchen with her own shoes on, and tossed Mike his.

"I can clean this up, old man. Your knees don't need the extra stress."

"Gin, I got. If you slip in the water you'll hurt more than just yourself." He started to mop up the mess, while Ginny started picking up the biggest shards, careful to skirt around the water.

Rachel watched the exchange with something like fury building inside her. "Is that your baby Mike?"

"Yes," he answered without even thinking about it.

"You cheated on me! How is this even possible? Wasn't she in another country? Or was that just another one of your lies?"

"Rachel, calm down. I didn't lie, and I didn't cheat, though where you get the stones to judge me for it, I'll never know. The baby is mine because I am adopting it. The guy sitting at the table, trying not to ease drop right now, is the baby's biological father. But none of this is any of your business. We are divorced. You didn't want to be with me and I didn't want to be with you. You can't just show up here anymore. We are done."

"That's not true. You love me. You said you would always love me. You know you'll come back. It's just a matter of time."

Mike was getting visibly angry now. "I said that a long time ago. Things do change, but I love Ginny. I want to be with her. So, I will ask you nicely one more time, to please leave."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to go back home and get on with your life."

The evening wound down pretty quickly from there. Rachel called an uber to take her to a hotel, and Noah left right after. Ginny and Mike cleared the table and did the dishes in silence. Both were replay the night in their heads.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, as she put away the last plate.

"Sure about us?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, I mean you have a lot of history with her. I would understand if you wanted to try again, but if you aren't sure I should go. I don't want…"

He stopped her from finishing the thought. "Ginny, I love you. I want to be with you. Forever."

She looked like she still didn't quite believe it.

"Forever, Baker. When you are old and gray, and your knees are as bad as mine. Forever."

"Forever," she repeated reverently.

"Alright then," he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"I want that too… for the record," she said, leaning back to look him in the eyes.

"Good to know, for the record," he laughed. Then he leaned down and kissed her like he had done it a thousand times before. Before she could react, he was pulling away. "So, what are we watching tonight, Baker?"

But she didn't let go, instead, she pushed up on her toes and kissed him. It was supposed to be just as quick as the first, but instead morphed into something more. Finally, they pulled away.

"Forever," she said, looking right into his eyes.

"Forever," he repeated.


	10. Game day

Ginny was up early, which was unusual lately. In her last month of pregnancy, she wasn’t getting much sleep, but the sleep she did get usually came between 4 am and 10am. So, Mike was surprised to see her sitting at the breakfast bar when he came down the stairs. 

“You didn’t have to get up,” he said kissing the top of her head and running his hand over her stomach, before heading into the kitchen. 

“I couldn’t sleep, and I wanted to wish you luck.”

“It’s just the Mariners. We got this. What’s on your agenda for today?”

“Ev scheduled me a massage.”

“That should be nice.” 

“Don’t worry, I should be done by noon and be back home before the game starts.” 

“I wasn’t worried,” he insisted even though they both knew he liked to know she was at home watching him play. “Do you want me to make you something?”

“No, I’m not hungry.”

“Mark it on the calendar. The first time Ginny Baker wasn’t hungry.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Have a good game,” she laughed, kissing his cheek before heading back to her room to get dressed for the day. 

Mike headed to Petco to start his pregame ritual. He went over hitters. He warmed up. He met with Al to discuss the game plan, but somewhere in the back of his mind he kept wondering what was going on with Ginny. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, and pulled out his phone. 

“Hey?” she answered after several rings. 

“Hey, how was the massage?”

“Good,” she answered in a clipped tone. 

“You don’t sound very relaxed,”

“I’m fine.”

Mike chewed his lip. “Where are you?” 

“I’m in an uber…”

“Headed home?”

“Can you just call me after the game?”

Again he noticed something different about her voice. It was almost like the time she couldn’t breathe. “Are you having a panic attack?”

“No…”

“Ginny! What is going on?”

“I’m… having a contraction.”

“Are you serious?”

Ginny groaned. 

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Mike, you know first time labor can take a long time. Finish your game. I’m just going to go check in at the hospital. You kick some Mariner’s ass and then meet me after the game.”

“I’m on my way.”

“No, it’s going to take a long time, don’t miss the game.”

“If you think I could play right now, you are crazy, and if Al found out I stayed when you were in labor he would kick my ass faster than you can say chili cheese dog.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, sounding more than a little unsteady. 

“I am on my way, Rookie.”

Thirty minutes later he came running into her hospital room. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing, Old man. I am at a 4 so they want me to walk.”

“Walk?” 

“Yeah, remember birthing class?”

“Ok, so we walk.” He offered her an arm, but she just rolled her eyes. At least until the next contraction hit. At some point he thought he would have her nail marks tattooed into his arm, but he never complained once. They watched the game in the background cheering for their friends between contractions. Once it was clear that the Padre’s would win, things moved pretty quickly. 

Easton Michael Baker Lawson was born at 4:30pm August 29. The entire Padre’s roster trickled through in the hours after the game. They brought the game ball, 3 giant teddy bears, enough baby clothes for an army and take out from all Ginny’s favorite restaurants. 

Evalyn was the gate keeper, making sure no one outstayed their welcome. While Ginny was in a surprisingly good mood, everyone could see how tired she was. Mike was the ever proud papa, coach players who had numerous children at home on how to hold his son.   
When they were finally alone, mike sat on the bed with Ginny as they looked at their new son. 

“I think he has your ears,” she teased. 

Mike smiled. “I think he looks just like you.”

“Well, yeah, he is perfect. What did you expect?”

“Honestly? I never expected any of this,” Mike answered seriously. “I never thought I could be this happy.”

“I didn’t either but thank you for being here.”

“You should have called me when you first felt the contractions. If hadn’t called I might have missed it.”

“I’m sorry. I really thought it would take a long time. They said it could take a while, and I wanted you to be able to play one last game before you took your leave.”

“I don’t care about missing a game. I wanted to be here for you.” 

“You have been, ever since I called you.”

“Thank you for that by the way.”

“For call you, when my whole life was falling apart?” she asked him as if he were crazy. 

“Yeah, sometimes things have to fall apart, so that they can come together.”

“Did you read that on a fortune cookie?”

“Nope, I lived it.”

“Oh god, you cheese ball. Don’t make me cry again.”

“I’m sorry.” He kissed her cheek. “Hey, Gin?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, Rookie.”

“I love you too, Old man."


	11. Easton asks

“Hey, dad?”

“Yeah?” Mike checked the rearview mirror again to make sure Easton was buckled in his seat. 

“What happened to your mom and dad?”

“Um,”

“I know Mama’s dad, Grandpa Bill died a long time ago. I have Grandma Janet and Kevin, and Grandpa Al. What about your mom and dad? Where are they?”

“My mom lives in Las Vegas, no wait, she lived in Phoenix last I talked to her. She moves a lot.”

“But she knows about me?”

“Yeah, Bud, she knows all about you.”

“Do you think she might come visit some time?”

“Maybe, I’ll ask her next time she calls me.” In truth, his mother knew all about Easton and Ginny, but Mike had been avoiding her visits. He knew what she was like, and he didn’t want   
to be left explain why she didn’t show up. “What brought this up?”

“Xander’s Grandma came to read to the class on today.”

“Mom or I read to your class every Tuesday.”

“I know, but Xander’s Grandma brought cookies for everyone.”

“We could bring a snack next week. Hell, we could bake whatever you want. You know you are my favorite sous chef.”

“Dad,” Easton moaned. 

“You want to have a grandparent to go.”

“Yeah, is that ok? You could still come on Tuesday. Millie likes your princess voice.”

“It’s fine, Bud. I will talk to Grandpa Al. How bout that?”

“Ok, but remind him that we don’t have a swear jar at school, so he can’t use his clubhouse words.”

Mike laughed. “Will do.”

“You do have a dad though, right?”

“You know how Uncle Noah is biological father?”

“Yeah,”

“I had a biological father too. He taught me how to be a catcher, but he couldn’t be around, so my mom raised me all by herself.”

“All by herself?”

“All by herself.” Mike confirmed.

“I’m glad mama didn’t have to do that. She would burn the house down making my breakfast.”

Again Mike laughed. “She is getting better.”

“Dad, she forgot the water in my mac and cheese cup and the microwave had fire in it.”

“When?”

“Last week when you were having lunch with Uncle Blip.”

“Ok, maybe she still needs practice, but she would have been fine on her own.”

“But Dad, if she was on her own I wouldn’t have you! I like that you get to be my dad.”

“I like that I get to be your dad too, East.”

“I think it is sad that your biololical father couldn’t come visit you like Uncle Noah.” 

Mike didn’t know what to say. They lapsed into silence for a moment as he pulled into the driveway. He turned off the car and just sat for a minute. They had always been honest with Easton, but this was different. He couldn't think of a way to explain something he didn't even understand himself.

“Hey, Dad?” Easton popped up between the front seats. 

“Yeah?”

“Thanks picking me.”

“In a million lifetimes nothing could ever stop me from picking you, Bud.”

“Good, now can we go inside. I’m hungry and Mama promised she would bring home pizza after practice. 

“Sounds perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am thinking about doing a few add ons of Easton growing up, but they might not be in order. Thoughts?


	12. Bedtime

“Can I have just one more book?” Easton asked. It was a stall tactic he used every night. 

“I think five is enough, Bud.”

“But I’m thirsty.”

“And your cup is right here.” Mike had to fight not to roll his eyes.

“Mama’s not home yet.”

“It’s a late game, E. She will be here in the morning to wake you up and take you to school.”

“But I’m scared, Daddy.” 

“I know, but I already checked under the bed and behind the curtains and in the closet. I even sprayed the monster spray.”

“Can’t I just sleep with you? You let me sleep with you when mom goes to away games.”

“Easton, you are a big boy now. You have to sleep in your new big boy bed. You know you get a new power ranger if you stay in your bed all week and you only have 2 days left.”

“It’s the blue one, right? I want the blue one, because he had the best zord. Matthew thinks the red one is the best, but…”

“Yes, it will be the blue one, but no more stories. It is bed time. Close your eyes, lay your head down and go to sleep.”

“Will you leave the light on in the hallway?”

“Always. I’m right down the hall. I love you.”

“I love you, dad.”

It was an hour later when Ginny finally got home. Mike was watching the recap of the game in the living room. Ginny tucked herself into his side.

“It wasn’t your fault, Gin. The ump was being a dick. I swear some of those looked good.”

“It was an off day. I just hate letting everyone down.”

“Well, it’s not like the guys were hitting it out of the park or anything.”

“Maybe everyone was having an off day, but we are still in this.”

Mike pressed a kiss to her head. “Of course, you are. This is our year. I can feel it.”

“You say that every year.”

“True, but it’s different this time. I cleared a spot on the wall of fame already.”

Ginny looked over at the wall covered in hand turkeys and finger-paintings. “How’s da Vinci going to take that?”

“Are you kidding? The kid’s been painting rings for weeks, but I thought it would be creepy to hang them.”

“And you’re superstitious,” she teased. 

“And I am a little superstitious. Are you hungry? I left you a plate in the fridge.”

“I’m alright,” she wormed her way impossibility closer to him.

“Are you sure? I could got get it for you?”

“No, I’m just tired.”

“Alright then, lets go to bed.” He pulled her up from the couch. “Hey, did you pick up the thing today?”

“They only had the red and yellow rangers.”

“Shit, I promised him tonight it would be the blue one.”

“Thank god for amazon,” she laughed, pulling out her phone to quickly order the toy. “It will be here day after tomorrow, but you are paying for the rush shipping.”

“What? Why me?”

“I told you not to keep letting him get in bed with us but you promised he would be out by the time he was five. Now he is almost six and I still wake up with a shadow half the time.”

“But Baker! How could I tell him no? He has your face and my charm,”

They walked by Easton’s room and Ginny looked in on her sleeping angel for a minute. “I know, but it is still your fault.”

“Fine, it will be your fault that he insists on the light in the hall.”

“It’s scary in the dark all alone,” she snapped, as she moved to their own room.

“I know, but I’m right here.”

“Thank god for that,” she kissed him quick before moving the closet to change into her pjs.


	13. a trip to the store

“I swear to God, Michael, if you lay one finger on me, I will end you.”

“It’s not that hot…”

“END YOU!”

“Ok-ay, what can I do?”

“Can you get a plane ticket to Antarctica?”

“For me or you?”

“whichever,” 

“Are you ok?”

“Do I look ok? I’m hot and I’m tired and I can’t even eat ice cream because every time I do, I throw up.”

“Maybe you’re getting your…”

“Finish that sentence. I dare you.”

Mike backed away from the bed Ginny was sprawled on. She was lay there in her underwear, sweat covering her neck and chest. “It might be the flu. I could get you some…”

“I got the damn flu shot.”

“It doesn’t always work.”

“I know that, can’t you just make me feel better?” she whined. 

“I gotta know what’s wrong first, my love. Are you sure it’s not the flu?”

“I’ve never heard of the flu making your boobs hurt.”

“And it’s not your period?”

“No, that comes on the 15th.”

“Gin, it’s the 30th.”

“No, that’s not possible.”

A grin bloomed on his face. “Are you sure?”

“Oh god…” tears welled in her eyes. “You need to go to the store.”

“Ok, you want me too get some of that candied ginger and popsicles.”

“Yes, please. And some orange soda?”

“Orange?” he asked, knowing she had told him multiple times that she hated the stuff. 

“Yes, orange,” she growled. 

“Ok, back in a flash,” he literally ran from the room, turning the thermostat down even more as he passed it. 

An hour later they were both in the bathroom. She hadn’t even set the test on the counter when the digital read out popped up, Pregnant. Then did another just to be sure and then a third. 

“Well, I guess that’s it.” She said as she set down the last one. 

“How do you… I mean, are you…” Mike stumbled over the words. He had always hoped that they would have another kid, not because he didn’t love Easton, but because he did. Being Easton’s dad had given him a purpose in a way baseball never had. He wanted his son to have a sibling because he knew how lonely it was growing up without one. That being said, Ginny didn’t seem that happy. Her reaction made him start to question things. Maybe she didn’t want another kid. Maybe she didn’t want to have His kid. 

Ginny was spiraling out too, but for different reasons. She had made it back once, but could she do it again 5 years older? Would she even want to? When Easton started school, they had stopped travelling with the team as much. She was already missing so much. She had missed his first word while she was at practice and she had seen his first steps via facetime. Did she really want to go through that again? There were days when she would come home, try to pick him up and he would push her away and run to Mike like he wanted nothing to do with her. Every time it ripped her heart out. 

Then she started to think of how Easton would feel. Would he feel left out, knowing that this baby was Mike’s biologically? Would Mike treat them differently? Did he even want another kid? They hadn’t ever really talked about it. 

Finally, she caught sight of Mike chewing his cheeks. She looked at him sideways. “What do you think of Rawlings?”

“What?” he asked clearly confused. 

“For a name. I mean, we can’t just leave this one without its own sponsorship. Louisville is out because I’m not into place names, and Schutt would be weird. I feel like if we go with Wilson you are going to make wa-ay too many castaway references, and I can’t take that right now.”

“Rawlings?” he was finally catching on. He realized she was trying to open up. It wasn’t what they had planned, but she wanted it anyway. 

“Unless you can think of something better?”

“I’ll have to think about it. In the meantime, why don’t we go take a nap. Ev will be dropping the boy off in an hour, and I could use a rest.”

“You could use a rest? I’m the one carrying your baby,” she laughed. Mike couldn’t help but grin.


	14. Valentines

“Mom? Where’s Dad?” Easton asked as he walked out of school. 

“Dad had a meeting, so I am picking you up. I thought we could spend some time together.”

“But he promised we could go shopping today.”

“I can take you. Where do you want to go?”

“No, I’ll wait and go tomorrow with Dad.”

“OK, well is there something else you’d like to do with me? We could go see a movie, or get ice cream, or go to the park.” 

“We could go get ice cream I guess…”

“Oh you guess? I mean if you want to just go home and get started on your chores…”

“No, mom. Please can we go get ice cream?”

They had a good time at the ice cream place. Ginny let him get way more toppings than Mike ever did. They talked about school and the new baby and which power rangers they would be if they could and what super power they would like. It was a good afternoon, but somewhere in the back of her mind, Ginny was hurt that Easton refused to do whatever he had planned to do with Mike. 

When they got home East did his chores, and Ginny made dinner. She forgot about her son’s odd behavior. They did their regular night time routine. It wasn’t until she was getting into bed that night that she thought of it again. 

“What were you planning to do with East today?” she asked. 

Mike poked his head out of the closet. “What?”

“East said you guys had plans today, but he wouldn’t tell me what.”

“Oh, it was nothing. We will do it tomorrow.” He disappeared back into the closet. 

“But what were you doing?”

“Guy stuff.”

“Lawson! I have lived with and been around boys my whole life. I just want to know what was so secret that my own son wouldn’t talk to me about it. I mean, he’s 6 what secrets could he possible have?” 

“You have to promise you won’t try to talk to him about it. If he knows I told you, then he won’t tell me anything anymore.”

“Mike.”

“I’ll try to get him to talk to you about it, but I promise it is nothing bad.”

“What?”

“He wanted to get a valentine.”

“We bought his valentines last week.”

“He wanted to get a valentine. For a girl.”

“A girl?”

“Yeah,”

“He is 6!”

“Babe, it’s harmless. She is just a friend. You know how much he talks about Charli.”

“Charli?”

“Yeah, she is his best friend, and he wanted to get her something special.”

“And he wanted your help, not mine?”

“Well, yeah, I think it’s a father – son thing. I mean, I don’t really know, but he asked me for my help picking something.”

“You both know I am a girl, right? Wouldn’t I be the one to know what a girl would like?”

“I don’t know? I didn’t think about it. I thought it was sweet.”

“Well, what were you thinking a six-year-old girl would like?”

“E wanted to get her the pink ranger.” 

“A pink ranger?”

“Yeah, she likes to play with his rangers, but she doesn’t have one of her own. He thought he could invite her over for a playdate.”

“A date!”

“A playdate, like a hangout.”

“I am so not ready for this.”

“I know.”

“Why does it have to be pink? Because she’s a girl?”

“No, Gloria Steinem, he wanted to get her the pink one because it is her favorite.”

“Oh, well that’s nice then. He really put a lot of thought into it.”

“He did.”

“I still don’t like you two having secrets.”

“I know, but there are going to be things that he feels better about talking to me about and there are going to be things he feels better talking to you about. I just want him to know he can trust me. And I want you to know that if it was really important I would tell you.”

“I know that, I just…”

“Hate feeling left out?”

“Yeah.”

“You will always be my Valentine.”

“Cheeseball!” she laughed. He leaned into kiss her and she melted into it, glad for the millionth time that they had found each other.


	15. Shortstop

“Hey Mommy?”

“What?” Ginny asked suspiciously. Whenever he called her mommy, he wanted something. 

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course, what’s up, snickerdoodle?”

“I think I want to play shortstop this year,” he sighed. Ginny could tell he was nervous.

“I think you should talk to your dad. He is your coach.”

“I know, but that’s the other thing…”

“What?” 

“Some of the guys…”

“And girls,” Ginny interrupted. 

Easton rolled his eyes. “The other players were thinking maybe you could coach us this year. You know because you are not playing right now and all.”

“I’m taking time off because I’m having a baby, sweetheart. I might be able to help more, but coaching is a lot. I thought you liked your dad coaching you.”

“I do. Dad is great, but….”

“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”

“I just don’t want him to be mad that I don’t want to play catcher.”

“Has he ever made you feel like you have to?”

“No, he let everyone choose their position in the beginning. We could try different ones, but I was good at catcher and he looked so happy…”

“You don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t think he would be disappointed.”

“You don’t?”  
“No, your dad just wants you to be happy. He likes spending time with you, which is why he volunteered to be your coach, but even if you wanted to play soccer or basketball or hockey, I think he would buy a rule book and figure it out.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, You guys took swimming when you were a baby.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Your dad was really worried about having a pool, so he signed you up for lessons when you were 6 months old. You could swim before you could walk.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to him about it, but will you still come help? All the kids want to see you in action, and Sarah said you are the reason her dad let her sign up for the team.”

“Yeah, Baby,” Ginny fought tears. Her hormones were all over the place. Whenever she heard about little girls inspired by her, she got a little choked up. “I would love help out.”


	16. a trip to the park

“Come on E, Uncle Noah is going to be here any minute. Get your stuff picked up, please.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Why not?”

“I wanna stay here with you and mom and Wil.”

“Don’t you have fun when you go with Noah?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, you know Mom and I are probably just going to take a nap. You don’t want to take a nap, do you?”

“No, but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing, have you seen my batman hoodie?”

“I think it’s in the closet by the front door.” Easton ran off to find it without another word. The last three times Noah had come to take Easton out, Easton had not been as excited as he used to be. Mike was starting to get nervous. Easton had always been happy to go on adventures with his biological father. Mike decided to talk to Noah to see if something had happened. 

As he walked by the nursery, Mike heard the baby start to stir. So much for the nap he was hoping to squeeze in. He scooped up the baby, kissing his check. 

“Wil, I thought we had a deal. I promised you a life time supply of cuddles in exchange for a little rest.”

“Do you make that deal with everyone in this house?” Ginny laughed.

“It’s a good deal. You know what a good cuddler I am.”

“I guess, but honestly, didn’t we just get him to sleep? How can he be up again already?”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll take him for a drive, so you can nap.”

“Have I told you how much I love you today?” she leaned heavily on his shoulder, wrapping an arm around the baby.

“I could stand to hear it again.”

“I love you, Mike Lawson. A million times more than I ever thought possible.”

“And I love you, Ginny, more than…”

The doorbell rang.

“That will be Noah,” she sighed. 

“Has East said anything to you about not wanting to go, or why he’s been avoiding it lately?” Mike asked as they walked down the stairs.

“No, but I was wondering too. Maybe we should have a family meeting before they head out.”

“Sounds like a plan. You take Wil, and we’ll meet in the living room.”

Easton was waiting by the door, Nike backpack on his back, looking very much like his mother in game mode. 

“Thank you for not opening the door, E.”

“I know the rules, Dad.”

“I know, but I also know that you thought about it, and decided to follow the rules even though you don’t agree with them and I appreciate that,” Mike said as he opened the door. Living in a gated community, they didn’t worry too much about paparazzi, but after an over zealous reporter got too close one day they had set firm rules about who opened the door. “Sorry for the wait, Noah. Do you want to come in for minute? Ginny and I wanted to chat before you guys leave.”

“Sure, I was just thinking lunch at the park, so we are in no hurry. How’s the new little man?”

“Good, seems to sleep a lot less than East did, but he is good.”

“He knows me, Uncle Noah. He smiles at me, and he always laughs when I do the Yoda voice you taught me.”

“Of course, he knows you, bub. You are his big brother,” Ginny said. Easton tucked himself onto the couch next to his mother. 

“Do you want to hold him?” Easton asked, looking over at Noah. 

“Sure, I remember when you were this small.” 

Ginny stood and handed the baby over. 

Noah cuddled him close. “It’s so weird now, thinking about E when he was this size.”

“I know, right? He is such a little man now.”

“I started taking you on our adventures when you were this size.”

“What did we do?” Easton asked.

"We went skydiving, and mountain climbing and dove with sharks," Noah teased.

Easton rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" 

“Mostly the same stuff we do now, minus lazer tag and the trampoline park. I would take you to the park, or the zoo or the beach. You liked the sound of the ocean, but you always tried to eat sand.”

“When I was a baby?”

“Well, when you were a bit bigger. When you started to crawl and get into everything. Actually, this might be my favorite stage of babies. When they are just happy to be held and walked and talked to.”

“Then we should take him with us.” Easton exclaimed, excitedly. 

“What?!?!?” all three adults asked in varying degrees of surprise. 

“Well, Mom and Dad need a nap, and I just… we’re brothers, so you are his uncle too, kind of. I mean, I know not really, but…”

Something clicked in Mike’s head. “Is that why you didn’t want to go today? Is this whole biological thing bothering you?”

“No, it’s just that,” he paused trying to get his thoughts in order. “I know you’re not his Uncle the way that you’re my uncle, but if I get to have extra family, I want Wil to have extra family too. And I like hanging out with you and I know he will too.”

“It’s ok with me, if it’s ok with your mom and dad,” Noah said. They hadn’t really talked about it before, but he really did like the time he spent with Easton. He wanted to be there for Mike's son in some way because he knew how much Mike loved and cared for his son.

Ginny and Mike looked at each other. They should have seen this coming. Their family was different, but that just meant sometimes they had to figure things out as they went. Ginny raised an eyebrow and Mike looked thoughtful and somehow, they had a whole conversation in shrugs and gestures. Finally, Mike clapped Noah on the shoulders. 

“I’ll get the carseat. The diaper bag is by the door. He just had a nap, and Ginny just changed him, so he should be good for a few hours.”

Noah Laughed. “I got this. Just make sure the super secret no throw up wonder bottle is in the bag this time.”

Ginny groaned. “One time! One time I forget, and this guy will never let me live it down.”

“Do you know how hard it is to get spit up out of cashmere?” Noah joked.

Ginny rolled her eyes and went to check the bag. 

Three hours later, Noah returned to boys to their well-rested parents. Mike invited Noah to stay for dinner. Easton told them all about the kids he had played with at the park, and the ice cream truck they had gotten snacks from after eating lunch. They had even gone to the store and gotten a few new shirts for Wil. One said ‘if you think I’m cute you should see my uncle’ and another that said ‘little brother’ with a matching “big brother” shirt for Easton.


	17. a trip to the hospital

Ginny came running into the ER drenched in sweat with dirt from a slide running up half her body. “I’m Ginny Baker. Can you tell me which room my son is in?”

“Ms. Baker, your family is through here follow me?” the nurse at the front desk had a friendly smile. 

“Can you tell me what happened?” Ginny asked.

Mike’s head popped out from behind a curtain. “We’re over here. He is ok.”

“What happened?” she asked again passing Mike to sit gently next to her son. 

“He just tripped on the stairs. He needs a few stitches, but they want to take some scans just to make sure.”

“Sweet boy,” she murmured, rubbing her thumbs over his cheeks. “How do you feel?”

“Fine, stupid, mad I had to miss the game,” Easton mumbled, leaning into his mother. 

“Accidents happen, baby. When I was your age I broke my arm riding my bike into a stop sign. Luckily, it wasn’t my pitching arm, but I still felt really stupid.”

“I broke my wrist trying to impress a girl at skate park,” Mike added. Ginny glared at him. 

“The point is, don’t feel bad. We’ve all been there. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“How did the game go?” Easton asked. 

“I don’t know. Your dad called and I left.”

“Really? In the middle of a game?”

“Baby, I would leave in the middle of world series if you need me.”

“Mama!” Wil whined, tired of being ignored.

“Sorry, lovebug,” Ginny laughed. She got up and took the baby from Mike. 

The family watched the rest of the game as they waited for the doctor to come back. Easton got 5 stitches. The Padres won 3-2 over the Dodgers. When they got home late that night, Easton was cuddled until he fell asleep. Ginny was still sitting in his room watching him sleep an hour later. 

“Are you coming to bed?” Mike asked. 

“In a little bit.”  
“You know if you sleep in here we will have them both in our bed tomorrow.”

“I know. I’m not going to sleep, I just….”

“Yeah, I know. When it happened, I heard was a scream. I’ve never heard him cry like that before. There was blood everywhere, and I was terrified.”

“I wasn’t there,” she sighed.

“Babe, it’s not your fault. It was an accident. It could have happened at school or at baseball practice. You can’t be with him all the time, but you were there as soon as you could be.”

“But what if it had been an away game? What if I had been in Atlanta or Chicago?"

“That’s why I’m here. When Blip was away and the boys got chicken pox, Ev had it covered. When Miller’s kid had an asthma attack his wife had it covered. You and me, we are a team. I have your back.”

“I know, I just hate the idea of something happening to him.”

“Want me to sit with you?”

“No, Wil is going to be up with the sun and one of us should be rested. I’ll be in soon.”

Mike kissed Easton’s head where the bandage was covering his stitches and left the room. Ginny sat for a bit longer thinking about everything that could have gone wrong, and everything that went right. She was lucky to have a partner she could count on. She kissed Easton one more time and headed to bed.


	18. Easton argues

“Can’t you just skip one week? It’s the all city tournament!” Easton moaned for what felt like the hundredth time. 

“No, baby, Wil’s game is important too.”

“It’s kindergarten soccer, Mom! They will be lucky if they don’t score in their own goal.”

“We might get done early and make it. His games are only an hour,” Ginny tried to ease her son’s annoyance. 

“You always say that, but you never do. Do you even want to see me play?”

“Of course, I want to see you play, but your dad is the coach, so he has to be there, and Wilson has a game. The deal is two events we split up. I came to watch your at practice last week.”

“It’s not the same. Why can’t Auntie Ev take him? You said since her boys are gone to college she has needed a baby fix.”

“I know that, but he wants me to go. It isn’t fair to …”

“No, it isn’t fair that you always pick him over me!”

“What?”

“I know you like him better.”

“That’s not true, sweetheart. I would never want you to think that. I love you both equally.”

“No, you baby him. You always make me give him my stuff and let him have his way and read him extra books at bed. When was the last time you read to me?”

“You can read to yourself,” Ginny pointed out.

“Maybe I like when we read together.”

“I didn’t know, E. I didn’t realize you felt left out. I’m sorry,” Ginny said honestly.

“So you’ll come to my game?”

“No, I promised Wil I would go to his, but I’ll make you a deal.”

“What?” Easton snapped irritably. 

“You want to check that attitude young man.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.” 

“That’s what I thought. I will ask Auntie Ev to come to Wil’s game and take off at halftime so I make it to part of your game. Plus, you pick a book, and I will start reading with you.”

“Anything I want?”

“No, I cannot read another captain underpants.”

“Ugh, that was so third grade. I want to read Harry Potter.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah! I got it at the library. It looked cool.”

“Ok, deal, but we are so getting all the candy and a trip to the wizarding world when we finish.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was thinking just you, me and dad could go. Like big kid trip.”

“You always say dad is just like a big kid.”

“Exactly!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the second set of 10 chapters were called the Easton Chronicles. (at least in my mind) They were mostly about Easton moving through life, and there were several time jumps so at this point in the story he is 11. His brother, Wilson or Wil is now 5. I hope it isnt too hard to follow. Also while in my mind this isnt too much about their different parentage, it is natural for siblings to feel left out or frustrated from time to time.


	19. Easton learns something new

“Hey, Bud. How was school today?” Mike asked as Easton jumping into the car.

“It was ok.”

“What did you learn?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Mike repeated, unimpressed. 

Easton groaned. “You know how it is, Dad.”

“I do, but I doubt you spent all day at school and learned nothing.”

“We talked about immigrants.”

“What about them?”

“Just that most of us came from somewhere else, and different reasons people immigrated, and we are supposed to interview someone who about how their family came to this country.”

“Oh, so who are you going to interview?”

“I was thinking I would ask Uncle Livan.”

“Oh, ok…”

“Well, he probably has a cool story.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve heard it a time or two.”  
-  
“You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not that. It would be a good American dream story.”

“But?”

“Nothing, Bud. I’ll text your mom and see if he can come for dinner.”

“Cool, can Grayson come over this weekend?”

“Of course.”

“Can we stop at sonic for slushes before we get Wil?”

“Sure.”

That night Livan came over for dinner. He told the boys the story of growing up in Cuba. He talked about the family he left behind. He went on and on about how hard he trained to get out and make a name for himself. 

While Ginny and Mike were doing the dishes, Livan took the boys outside to play. 

“You know, you should really ask your dad about immigration,” Livan said as he kicked the soccer ball to Easton.

“My dad, why?”

“His mom was born in Indonesian.”

“Seriously?” Easton asked, shocked. He had met his grandma twice, and she looked as sounded as American as anyone.

“Yeah, he told me about it when I first came.”

Easton was going to ask more about it, but Wil whined for the ball. Easton kicked it to his little brother and got caught up in the game. Later that night when his dad came in to say good night, he remembered. 

“Is your mom really an immigrant?”

“Yes,” Mike answered, clearly surprised. “Why do ask?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to, but then you wanted to talk to Livan. I wanted you to do the report you wanted to do.”

“You should have told me. I thought it was going to be some boring story.”

“I think every story is interesting. The way a family comes to new place the reasons, the struggles, that’s why you guys are doing this. So you can hear about the things that are the same for everyone and the things that make each story unique.”

“Will you tell me about Grandma?”

“Sure.” Mike sat down on the edge of the bed. East grabbed his notebook and a pencil. “My mom’s name is Paula Van den Brink. She was born in Palembang, Indonesia.”  
He told Easton everything he could remember about his mother coming to the states. He even taught Easton some words in Indonesian. Mike talked about the time he and his mother traveled to Indonesian when his grandmother was dying. It had been a huge culture shock. He was still talking about the market when Ginny came to see what was taking him so long. 

“Mom, did know dad went to Indonesia when he was a kid?”

“Yeah, he told me about it,” Ginny smiled. 

“Can we go? Maybe for Christmas next year. We won’t have school, and you won’t have to work.”

Ginny looked at Mike. He shrugged. 

“Your Dad and I will look into it, but I don’t see why not.”

“Cool! Everyone at school is going to be so jealous when I tell them.”

“I’m sure, but now it’s time for bed,” Ginny kissed Easton good night and grabbed Mike’s hand. “Come on, old man.”

“Night, E,” Mike ruffled his hair. 

“Night, Dad.”  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several people have added MPG's Indonesian heritage to their stories. I would have loved if it was canon. this is my version.


	20. Chapter 20

“Can Grayson spend the night?” Easton asked as he joined Mike in the dugout. 

“He has already been over twice this week, bud. His dad probably wants to take him home.”

“His dad isn’t even here, Dad. Grayson tried to call, but it went to voice mail.”

Mike knew that Grayson’s dad had been struggling since his wife died. Honestly, even when she was alive, they had rarely seen Carl. When they did see him, he was usually talking on the phone. There were times he was late to pick up his son or didn’t come at all. Mike and Ginny had tried to be there for Grayson as much as they could. They let him come over whenever he asked. They treated him like a third son. They made sure his clothes were clean and checked his homework. 

Still, it got on Mike’s nerves that Carl, Grayson’s dad had checked out. He stopped coming to games altogether. When Grayson spent the night, he ate like he hadn’t had a decent meal in days. When Mike drove him home, the house was usually empty. It was all adding up. 

“Ok, tell him he can stay,” Mike sighed. His own upbringing had been troubled. He wanted to give some stability to Grayson. 

The last straw was when Carl asked them to watch Grayson for the weekend, while he was away on a business trip. It wasn’t that he had asked the day before he left, or the fact that it was Grayson’s birthday on Saturday. They had already planned a pizza party for after the game. It was the fact that Carl called Sunday night to say the trip had been extended and he wouldn’t be home until the following Sunday. 

Ginny was brimming with rage. How could a man just leave his child like the boy was nothing more than an inconvenience? When they told Grayson he would be staying with them all week, he lit up.

“Do you think on Friday if I do well on my math test we can go to the batting cages? I think if I get really good my dad will start coming to my games.”

Ginny bit her lip to keep from crying. Mike covered it better. “Of course, Gray.”

“Cool! I’m going to go tell Easton.”

“What are we going to do?” Ginny sighed.

“I, um, I was thinking…”

“What? Just say it,”

“I was thinking we could ask Carl if Grayson could live with us.”

“Like adopt him?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking about it lately. We have to talk about it, but we have the space, and the money to support another kid.”

“What about Carl?”

“I want to know what you think first. I mean we said we were done having kids…”

“But this is different. He needs us, and I already love him.”

“I know, me too.”

“I think we have to talk to Carl, but I’m worried. What if he reacts badly and then doesn’t want Grayson around us anymore. I mean, I would miss him, but what about him? He doesn’t have anyone else looking out for him.”

“We have to try though, right?”

“We should talk to the lawyer too. She could draw up something.” Ginny said, really thinking about it. “Do you think he would want weekends or summers?”

“I don’t know, I mean he could say no altogether, but he doesn’t seem to care. I’m more worried about how Grayson will take it. You heard him. I know what it’s like to want your father’s approval so damn much. You do too. What if we go through all this and then he hates us because we took him from his father. Based on the way Carl has been more and more absent, I think he might disappear if we give him the chance.”

“What else can we do? I hate sending him home. I wonder if he’s eating. I worry that he is going to get hurt and no one will be there to help him. He’s not safe there.”

“I know. So, we talk to Carl.”

“and we go from there.” 

At first Carl was resistant to the idea. He didn’t want to give up his son. Mike and Ginny reassured him that he could come see Grayson anytime. They told him about Noah’s arrangement and talked with Grayson as well to work out something that worked for everyone. 

It was a struggle for them to adjust, but it worked out. Carl started coming to Grayson’s baseball games. He came to dinner once a week and took Grayson out on the weekends when he could. Easton and Wilson were thrilled to have a new brother. There were a few fights over xbox time or whose turn it was to take out the trash, but the family grew stronger than ever, official adopting Grayson the following year on his birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched a kid whose parents would leave her for days at a time. I read somewhere that someone was thinking about Bawson adopting older kids and this was what I came up with.


End file.
